-CaravanMagazine.in As swarms of desert locusts descended upon India this year, toxic insecticides were sprayed over two lakh hectares of land to contain their spread. But the measure could have serious environmental and health consequences. India’s Locust Warning Organization, or LWO, a body under the ministry of agriculture, uses fifteen different formulations of eight insecticides for controlling their spread. Five of these insecticides are banned, restricted or withdrawn in one or...
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Agent of change: Motivated by IFS officer, Jharkhand villagers build 700 check-dams -Mukesh Ranjan
-The New Indian Express From strengthening Gram Sabha to shunning alcoholism, IFS officer motivates villagers to transform their lives through ‘shramdaan’, which helped them build 700 check-dams. JHARKHAND: Nothing could have changed Ara and Keram villages under Ormanjhi Block, located about 45 km from Jharkhand capital Ranchi. The people sold forest wood, did menial works and drank the local spirit. The result was only natural: The two villages were economically and socially most backward...
More »Tabling of CAG reports in Parliament is frequently being delayed, helping government evade scrutiny -Himanshu Upadhyaya and Abhishek Punetha
-Scroll.in In 2018, the last year of Modi’s first term, the presentation of eight of the 17 audit reports was delayed by more than 90 days. In India’s parliamentary accountability system, the Comptroller and Auditor General of India plays an important role. However, while the general public has great faith in the CAG’s role as a watchdog of the state exchequer, ruling governments frequently delay audit reports from being presented in parliament...
More »Coal Mining Casts Shadow Over Assam’s Rich Biodiversity -Ayaskant Das
-Newsclick.in The NBWL has recently granted clearance to North Eastern Coalfields, a subsidiary of Coal India Limited, for open cast mining over an area of 98.59 hectares in the Saleki area of the rainforests. New Delhi: The chorus for banning all mining activities within the rainforests of Assam has been rising after the National Board of Wild Life (NBWL) recently granted clearance to coal mining in the region, allegedly overlooking ecological concerns. Several...
More »Foodgrain stocks fall marginally despite PMGKAY -Harish Damodaran
-The Indian Express For July 1, the normative minimum stocks to run the targeted public distribution system (TPDS) and other welfare schemes, plus maintain a strategic reserve over and above that, are 27.58 mt of wheat and 13.54 mt of rice. Despite efforts at disposing of surplus foodgrains – including by distributing these free under the Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana (PMGKAY) and a special scheme for migrant labourers returning to...
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